Balance for detecting counterfeit money



F. H ERPER.

Coin Tester.

Patented Dec. 29, 1857x UNTTEE sTaTEs PATENT oEErcE.

FERDINAND J. HERPERS, OF NEYYARK, NEW' JERSEY.

BALANCE FOR DETECTING COUNTERFEIT MONEY.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F. J. I-IERPERs, of Newark, in the county of Essexand State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Implement orDevice for Detecting Counterfeit Gold Coin', and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in Which- Figure l, is a longitudinal vertical section ofmy improvement, a, a2, Fig. 9., shovving the plane of sect-ion. Fig. 2,is a transverse vertical section of ditto, y, y, Fig. l, shovving theplane of section. Fig. 3, is a plan or top view of ditto.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalgures.

This invention consists of a new article of manufacture, viz., a coinbalance, constructed substantially as hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe it.

A, represents the base of the implement, and B, B, are tvvo uprightsattached to the base.

C, C, represent t\vo vertical rods which are placed at the inner sidesof the uprights B, B, one to each. The lovver ends of these rods areconnected to the ends of a hori- Zontal rod D, which is attached to theinner end of a lever E, said lever being pivoted at a, to the base A,and having a spring F, underneath it, the spring keeping the outer endof the lever elevated, and consequently' the inner end depressed.

To the upper ends of the rods C, C, rectangular blocks Z), b, areattached. These blocks 7), lit in the uprights B, B, which areconstructed of metal and bent or formed of three sides so as to serve asguides for the blocksvsee F igs. l and 8. The blocks b, l), are alsoconstructed of metal and have each a triangular opening or bearing c,made through them to receive the ends of a bar G, which are made intriangular or knifeedged form, similar to the pivots of all scale beams.To one end of the bar G, an index IVI, is attached and a vertical bar I,is suspended to said bar near the index H. the lovver end of the bar I,being heavier than its upper part so that it will be retained in avertical position, and the upper end of 18,973, dated December 29',1857.

said bar having a segment (l, attached to it vvith a vertical mark e,made at its centersee Fig. l.

To the bar G, the scale beam J, is attached. One end or part, f, of thisscale beam is graduated or has small holes g, made in it to receive thepoint of a weight K, said holes being made in the beam at proper pointsand numbered corresponding to the different denominations of U. S. goldcoin, see Fig. 3. The opposite end of the scale beam is formed of aplate 7L, having slots z', made in it, said slots corresponding inlength and ividth to the several U. S. gold coins, see Fig. 3. To theunder side of the plate r, a vertical plate j, is attached, said platebeing slotted vertically, the vertical slots corresponding in Width tothe slots z', and being in line ivith them, see Fig. l.

The knife-edged ends of the bar G, lit in V-shaped notches 1, in theupper ends of the uprights B, B, when the implement is not in use-theends of the bar being kept in the notches XJ, by the spring F. By thismeans the bearings and knife edges of the bar G, are kept in order orprevented from being injured by unnecessary Wear.

The implement is used as follows. Suppose a $2?,- gold piece is to betested. The coin is placed in the slot marked in the plate 7L, said coinalso tittingin the slot in the plate j, directly in line with the slotin the plate z. If the coin fits snugly in these slots it is of properdimensions. The outer end of the lever E, is then depressed and theblocks are elevated so that the bearings c, are raised above the upperends of the uprights B, B, and the ends of the bar G raised above or outof the notches 7e, in the upper ends of the uprights B, B. The scalebeam J, then rests in the bearings c, and the point of the Weight II,being placed in the point marked on the end or part j", of the scalebeam, the coin ivill more than counterbalance the Weight and the indexH, Will be moved to the right of the mark e, on the segment (Z, and thecoin is proved to be genuine.

Counterfeit coin, if of the same size as the genuine ones, arenecessarily lighter, because the alloy is of less specific gravity thangold. If a spurious coin be of the same Weight as a genuine one, thespurious coin lOO will necessarily be larger, consequently by measuringand weighing the coin spurious ones may be readily detected.

I have graduated the scale beam so that new genuine coins will more thancounterbalance the weight K, in order to allow for a deficiency inweight occasioned by wear, but the wear will never be so great as toprevent genuine coins from exactly balancing the weight and causing theindex to be at the point e, on the segment. If a coin be notsufficiently heavy to do this, it is spurious.

I have practically tested the above described machine as follows: I tooktwo pieces of gold, one being 21gcarats II. S. standard, and the other18 carats. These two pieces I worked into wires exactly of the samethickness. The piece of carats, I made of the same weight as a halfeagleor gold piece. The piece of 18 carats wire was then cut so as tocorrespond exactly in size with the wire of 211gcarats. I then weighedthe two pieces of wire and found the wire of 18 carats to be 1S grainslighter than the one of 211gcarats, thereby showing a difference of 3%grains on the dollar. If, therefore, an allowance of one grain on thedollar be made for the wear of gold coin, to which extent it probablywill not wear, as only the projecting surfaces are exposed, theimplement will detect base coin made of as good a quality or of as linegold as profit would permit.

I am aware that there is in some coins a small difference in size owingto the different degrees of pressure given it by coining, but thisdifference is so minute, and the difference between the genuine coin andlf3-carat gold so great, being (after a deduction of one grain on thedollar for wear) 2% grains, that a well constructed implement willdetect any base coin. The accuracy, therefore, of an implement for thepurpose of detecting base coin is important, and by having the implementconstructed or arranged as shown so that the beam is not allowed to restin its bearings when not in use, the bearings are kept in perfect order,being subjected to wear only when the implement is used.`

I am aware that implements have been previously invented for effectingthe same purpose as the one herein described. I therefore do not claimdetecting spurious coin by weight and measurement irrespective of theconstruction of the implement as descried, but to the best of myknowledge and belief, it is new inbalances of this description toarrange the knife edges as herein described, so that the knife edges canonly come in contact with their bearings at the moment of weighing.

I do not claim to be the inventor of slid ing or movable supports forthe knife edges, as this feature is seen in jewelers scales,apothecaries scales, etc. But in all of these, it will be found that theknife edges rest upon their bearings when the scales are not in use.Consequently every concussion or jarring in the apartment or buildinginjures the knife edges and bearings, and after a time the scales becomeinaccurate. This can never happen in my improvement, because the knifeedges never come in contact with their bearings, except when the leveris pressed, and they wholly separate and are held steadily apart whenthe lever is released. It is also new to have vertical pockets of theexact size of the coins, upon the fulcrum bar, which pockets serve asmeasures of thedimensions of the pieces of money, and also indicate theexact spot where the coin is to be placed by the operator. I do not,however, claim, broadly, the placing of gages or receptacles uponbalances. But no balances have ever been ar ranged with a number ofvertical pockets in close proximity. The apparatus is thus made verycompact and highly convenient.

I do not claim to be the inventor -of swinging index bars for weighingmachines; and therefore I disclaim the same as used in my apparat-us.Their employment is not essential as my instrument can be made and usedeither with or without the same, as may be desired.

No coin balance like mine has ever been known or used, to the best of myknowledge and belief. It is therefore a new article of manufacture, andpossesses useful qualities not seen in any other analogous article.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as a new article ofmanufacture,v

A coin balance when constructed as herein described.

FERDINAND J. HER-PERS. 7Witnesses:

JAMES F. BUCKLEY, W. TUsoI-I.

